A collection of paintings entered in this year's ArtPrize juried art competition in Grand Rapids is making a mark on its visitors in Portland through the end of the month.

"Price Tags," a series of seven painting in acrylics/mixed media by Bernie "Doc" Duff, is on exhibit at the law office of Patrick Duff, Bernie's brother, at 108 Kent St. in Portland.

Bernie Duff served for 10 years in the military, including as a medic in Vietnam. Originally from Muskegon, he has lived in Vietnam since 2006, working with families who still suffer from the effects of Agent Orange.

Bernie Duff said he began working on these paintings after last year's ArtPrize as something he could do "to give back to my fellow vets."

Each painting tells the story of a veteran from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. Each depicts a soldier holding his deceased friend's dog tags, the soldier bent over them like a rosary as though in prayer. A sixth painting is a close-up of a soldier's hands with dog tags. A seventh depicts the scene of the grave of a Muskegon soldier killed in 2009 by a roadside bomb in Iraq on his last day of combat.

"That's pretty much the way it is, like a prayer," Bernie Duff said. "As a medic, I held lots of people in my arms that died. When you hold one of your comrade's dog tags in your hands, it's a pretty emotional thing, like holding a part of that person. It's intense – every vet who has been in combat feels the same."

Bernie has always been a talented artist, said brother Pat, and this group of paintings is especially moving, bringing many viewers to tears.

"The paintings are very powerful," said Pat Duff. "A number of folks have gone in – many veterans, or parents with children in the service or a parent in the service – who have been likewise touched. It's very personal to them, and he captures that feeling."

All the paintings are for sale, with the proceeds going to Duff's work with Agent Orange families in Vietnam, except one. The soldier, who fought in Afghanistan and modeled for the painting, has inoperable brain cancer. Bernie Duff gave the painting to the soldier and his family.

"He's quite a guy," Bernie Duff said.

Bernie Duff, who is "100 percent disabled" with PTSD and other medical conditions, and his wife build houses in Vietnam for people with Agent Orange-related cancers, as well as help them pay their medical expenses. Each of the homes built display a plaque with the name of a person in the United States who also has an Agent Orange-related illness.

"They are suffering from the same thing," he said. "It means something to them. They feel like they aren't alone."

Page 2 of 2 - Duff added that most of the people affected by Agent Orange today, including three million children, weren't even born during the Vietnam War.

"It's still in the ecosystem," he said. "Agent Orange goes three generations deep. It affects my kids, my kids' kids, and their kids. We all worried about it."

Duff said in the time he has lived in Vietnam, no one has ever blamed him, as an American, for their problems.

"Never once have they said, 'This is because of you,'" he said. "They are so forgiving. They look at it as they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Duff and his wife are in the United States while she is studying for her Master's degree in psychology and to become an American citizen. The couple travels throughout Asia promoting their Agent Orange work, and it will be easier for her to get a visa as an American.

"We do what we can for our Agent Orange family," he said.

To view the paintings, stop by Pat Duff's Portland office. Call first to be sure the office is open: 517-647-4345.